"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is a 1983 instrumental by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto recorded for the film of the same name. The song has become a staple of

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

in the USA and Japan. A vocal version, " Forbidden Colours", features former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

frontman David Sylvian and charted in the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

Charts

Watergate version

In September 1999, a remix of Sakamoto's "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" titled "Heart of Asia" was released in Europe by German-Turkish disc jockey DJ Quicksilver, under the alias Watergate. This version was a success, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart and number four in Denmark.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Other versions

There is a 12-inch vinyl Italo disco cover version on the Italian record label Discomagic named "Clock on 5 – Theme from Furyo" which was released in 1984. In 2004, Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica included a piano remix of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" on his third album, ''

Variations Part I&II ''Variations Part I&II'' is Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica's third album, including his first (non-international) album, "Gestures". Track listing #Kolibre (Tonči Huljić) - 3:45 # Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 (Pyotr Ilyich Tc ...

''. Japanese-American R&B artist

Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...

heavily sampled the theme for her 2009 song "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI", from the album '' This Is the One''. In 2008, a cover version of " Forbidden Colours" was included on ''Hollywood Mon Amour'', a collection of songs from soundtracks of movies made in the 1980s, rearranged by Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague with Nadeah Miranda providing the vocals. Also in 2008, UK Hardcore producer Orbit1 remixed the song and called it "Heart of Asia" – named after the 2000 Watergate remix. It came out on the Hardcore Nation 2009. In 2009, British singer Faryl Smith recorded a version of the song for her album ''

Wonderland Wonderland may refer to: Places Municipalities * Wonderland, California, a ghost town in Plumas County * Wonderland, Ohio, a ghost town in Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Roads, streets, and trails * Wonderland Avenue, a roadway in Laurel Canyon, Los Ang ...

'', entitled "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Somewhere Far Away)". Japanese

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band

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recorded a track by the title "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" on their self-titled album. Tokyo Brass Style, a Japanese big band, recorded a cover of the title theme for their fifth album, ''Brass Style Xmas''. Sherwood & Pinch released a version of the song on their 2017 LP ''Man vs Sofa''. The 1985 French-Japanese documentary '' Tokyo Melody'' contains footage of Sakamoto playing the instrumental on a grand piano in his home.

Influence

Peter Buck, guitarist for R.E.M., has credited the film's theme song as an inspiration for the mandolin part he composed for the band's hit song " Losing My Religion".

References

{{Authority control 1983 compositions 1999 singles Japanese Christmas songs Japanese film songs Positiva Records singles Songs written by Ryuichi Sakamoto